Owning a small business may give you plenty of reasons to worry. Here are the top 3 things to focus your thinking on instead. Photo by Becky McCray.
If you’re worried about your business, your small town economy, or surviving in tough times, you have a choice. You could choose to focus instead on improving your business basics. Here are my top three small-business basics you can’t afford to ignore when things aren’t going well.
1. Bookkeeping and Accounting
Finance may be everyone’s least-loved business subject, but that doesn’t mean you can ignore it. You want to watch for possible warning signs that your business might be in trouble, so you have to understand which factors are most important in your business.
What can you do?
- Take care of your bookkeeping basics; keep on top of data entry. Start with an online service designed for small business like Wave Accounting.
- Choose a handful of important measures you will monitor regularly: gross sales, cash on hand, whatever makes sense for your business. Watch those results carefully.
2. Learning
Today, you have more learning resources than you can ever actually use. You can read advice from experienced business people without leaving your computer. You can connect personally with mentors, consultants, and many other types of support online. You can get resource articles, guides, and e-books on any small business issue.
What can you do?
- Pick one or two topics that can most impact your results.
- Dedicate a solid hour daily or at least weekly to read, discover, contemplate, and implement.
3. Connecting With People
What could be more important to business? Don’t let yourself develop a negative or even desperate attitude. Every day, you are coming into contact with current and potential customers, employees, partners, and referrers. It’s up to you to smile and connect with them.
What can you do?
- Be open to possibilities all around you.
- Keep planning for the future.
- Take action. It defeats worrying.
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Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
Number one on this list is so vital to measuring growth and progress in a business. Sadly also a point in which people tend to overlook.
David, definitely. It’s probably the biggest thing I see other businesses letting slide, and it hurts them.
I read that worry took many points off your IQ. I try to turn worry into wonder.
Russel, that’s a good way to think about it. If you’re worried, start by shifting to wonder, and move into action!